This weekend I got my Lionel standard gauge #42 all finished!
Here's a photo from the auction, showing what it looked like before.
And here it is now!
And for a little contrast on how huge it is, here it is next to a #254, which is already a pretty big engine:
And I also made a video!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpFM0-ZUDPY
Took me about 3 weeks to finish, and I'm happy with how it turned out! I wonder why no one's ever done a reproduction of these? It's an awesome piece of work, and a lot of creativity went into its design. Not many standard gauge electrics out there with siderod drives!
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Beeeeautiful!
Just the right amount of gloss to. There's something elegant about simple black. It's pretty much what I hope to find some day plus an 18 to go along with my 19 and 190 cars.
Maybe the fact that 42's were extremely common for a large standard gauge engine has something to do with them not being reproduced. I suppose if MTH makes a repop it'll be of the brass 54. While you could get the MTH Empire State Express cars to match, finding and restoring an original 18,19,190 set would be cheaper.
Bruce
Nice restore!
I watched the video. You don't sound like James Earl Jones. Perhaps in the future, you can rest the camera trackside for a passing shot. Smooth runner. Thanks for sharing.
WOW !!! What a great job !!! Congrats !! Thanks for posting.
Don
Thanks!
Sorry I don't sound like James Earl Jones, but I can do a decent impression of Gollum of that would make it more interesting.
All available shelf space for O and Standard Gauge trains are now full, so I think I'll slow down for a little while. When they're not in use, they do make some really nice display pieces! And as big as the #42 is, I'll bet that even it looks downright tiny next to the Lionel Brute! Oh, if only I had a huge area and a spare $5,000 for one of those sets...
Beautiful work!
Classic lines, classic beauty. MTH should absolutely bring back early Lionel electrics!
Becky
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
Superb restoration, should be good for another century, easily! A nice dark locomotive worthy of a Sith Lord.
Oh, and don't worry about not sounding like James Earl Jones. Even Darth Vader didn't sound like JEJ once the mask came off.
What a letdown that was! Here I was expecting a star cameo to end all star cameos and all we got was someone that looked like Humpty Dumpty. Oh well.
Humpty dumpty.
Yes, old Anakin was supposed to look like a worm of a man. Like a clerk in a vast imperial machine and otherwise useless without that machine. Personally I always pictured Vader as looking like Heinrich Himmler under that mask. You know, the chicken farmer that ended up in charge of the SS but far too weak a man otherwise to cause much more than a little fuss.
Anyhoo. At least they didn't try to put old man makeup on Hammill!
BeckyVader
You know Becky, when the mask came off ol' Darth Lady Firestorm and I were expecting someone under there who'd bring a GASP out of the audience, like for example Christopher Lee or maybe Chuck Heston. Maybe even James Earl Jones himself. Wouldn't THAT have been something! Like I said, the star cameo to end all star cameos. But it didn't happen, a lost opportunity.
Anyway, I'd heard that George Lucas was tired of doing "Star Wars" and just wanted to wrap the thing up as quickly as possible. Could have been worse I suppose. Don't get me started on the latest incarnations of "Star Trek."
Christopher Lee, yes! That would have been awesome!
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